Goa, at last

I've mentioned Sarah Macdonald's 'Holy Cow' several times already, but I just have to do so once again... Yesterday I read in her book a line about how impossible it is to define India, because, as she says and I totally agree with her, anything you say about this country, the exactly opposite is true as well, and what makes traveling here even more... let's say... special, is that one great thing is immediately followed by a not so great thing (tactful way to avoid using words like "annoying" or "disgusting"), and this, in turn, is followed quickly by another great thing and so on... Yesterday morning I had a few hours to kill at Kochi before taking the train to Goa, I went for a stroll, a 55+ guy approached me, turned out he is a professor at Mysore's University, he teaches philosophy, one thing led to another, so I accepted his offer for a glass of tea and a talk about Hinduism. We had our tea alright, he paid for it, and then we agreed to continue our discussion in another place he knew, which had air condition and was quite, unlike the first one we went to. Hm... He didn't feel like walking, so he asked me to take an auto-rickshaw. So we did. When we arrived at this restaurant he had in mind, he asked ME to pay for the rickshaw, which looked strange to Greek me, but I thought, well, he paid for the teas, so maybe it is expected from me to pay now for the rickshaw, even though we took it because HE wanted to take it. Anyhow, we go upstairs, and as we talk about Hinduism, he orders a beer and a couple of snacks, AND, he insists I order something as well, even though I insist that I don't feel like drinking anything. The waiter comes five minutes later, and once again, this unbelievable guy asks ME to pay the bill(!!!). I do, because the money is not really that much, and because I don't want to make a scene in front of the waiter, but when the waiter leaves, I start preaching (shame on me, I know, shoot me), this 55+ PROFESSOR, about what hospitality is, good manners, and attitude towards a foreigner who is visiting your country. I tell him that since I am in India, I am OK with doing things the Indian way, so if the Indian way wants the GUEST to pay when he gets invited by a local for a drink, I'll do it, but I "invite" him to visit Greece one day, so as to see what HOSPITALITY is, what "making your guest feel like a king" is... I tell him that if we were in Greece and I, I, had invited HIM for a drink, I would have paid for the taxi, I would have paid for the drink, and most probably I would have even invited my guest to my house, NOT accepting one single euro cent from him. THIS is the Greek way of dealing with foreigners, or at least this is the way my parents have taught me, the way my grandparents taught my parents and so on... After my preaching, I took off, leaving him speechless, I guess, maybe insulted as well. But I didn't care. Did I get pissed? You bet I did, but quickly I reminded myself the motto I... adopted the first day I stepped my feet in India: "stay humorous, no matter what", so I did, and quickly I started smiling with the whole incident, AND, feeling a little cocky bringing in mind how we Greeks treat our guests... A while later, waiting for my train, being a little disappointed, to be honest, from my earlier experience, I met this American-Indian who is the sweetest guy I have met up to now in India, and we talked for well over an hour. Also, on the train, I spent a lot of time talking to a guy who works for the Indian Navy, another great-great lad to talk to... From cold to warm, from frozen to boiling hot... Then, at some point, I did my favourite thing, I sat on the door steps, watching the sun go down on our left. It felt... magic, really, and right then a guy from the proceeding wagon spit and only instinctively I avoided his load coming to my face... Later on, another guy started talking to me about Ramayana, one of the six holy scripts of Hinduism. He sounded so... deep and knowledgeable, until one moment he stopped talking, and as he had me hanging from his lips for more, more info about Ramayana, Veda, Ayurveda and the rest of the holy scripts, he... he... he... burped!!! See what I mean? In this country I have felt a dozen times really sad about things I saw, and every time, in a few minutes, something great drew my attention, making me forget my sadness. Then again, a dozen times I have gotten enthusiastic about something, and that very moment, something happened and the... dream bubble was burst, if you know what I mean... I guess this is one of the things that make travelling around this vast and SO rich, in a hundred ways rich, country, THAT rewarding... Anyhow, early this morning I arrived at Goa, and to be more specific at Karmali train station, where I was welcomed by a... committee of three cows, one of which for some strange reason started running towards me the moment I tried to take a photo of them (I thought I was the only one who acts like a freak when someone tries to take a picture of me...). From there, a slightly, only slightly greedy auto-rickshaw driver drove me to Panaji, the capital city of Goa State. After doing my usual... investigation of the rooms on offer, I was GLAD to find a cheapie (250 rupees, five dollars, less than five euros), in a super picturesque building which looks like it has been shipped from Portugal. Generally, the feeling that I am in a Portuguese little town is very intense, so intense that when I started my first stroll in the town, my mind pushed a certain button in my memory's juke-box and I started singing the hymn of FC Porto, my favourite Portuguese football team... It's only four verses the ones I know, "here they are, the sons of the Dragon (Dragons is the nick name of FC Porto), united (they are) to win, proud (they are) to make this Porto team, champion". The more I sang it the more I grew Portugal-sick, remembering the great-great time I had both times I visited this beauuuuutiful country. Panaji won my heart, and I can easily say that I find it more "pleasant" than Kochi, which, if you remember, I called "the most pleasant place I have been to up to now, in India", in my previous post. Panaji makes me see why Goa is considered to be very different than the rest of the country. It's only one of the 30+ states that make up India, but quite honestly, parts of Panaji make you feel that you are in another country. This is by far the cleanest (or, to be more exact, the least dirty), place I have seen in India, just to mention one important detail... Of course, Goa is not Panaji, Goa is, mainly, the beaches, so, tomorrow morning, early, I am going to the ones right north of Panaji. I already dream of endless walking on the sand, having the Arabian Sea on my left and countless beach shacks on my right, listening to little waves splashing on my left, and touts calling me to go check their souvenir stalls on my right... Aaaaaaah, it must be really something...